Overview

• Canadian publishers report that AI-generated overviews in Google Search are eroding referral traffic and deepening a zero-click revenue shortfall for news outlets.
• A coalition of independent publishers filed a complaint with the UK Competition and Markets Authority, prompting parallel regulatory scrutiny in Europe.
• Pew Research Center data shows click-through rates drop from 15 percent to 8 percent when AI summaries are displayed above search results.
• Academics warn that generative summaries can hallucinate or miscontextualize information, pointing to bizarre errors like instructions to use glue on food.
• Google maintains that most AI overviews are as accurate as traditional features, says organic click volumes have remained stable, and has begun payments under Canada’s Online News Act.